this is "piers morgan live." tonight the greatest story ever told brought to you by the power couple roma downey and mark burnett. their series "the bible" 13 million viewers. their new project is even bigger. >> it's encouraging that jesus is going to be back on the big screen. >> roma downey and mark burnett, their big screen dreams and their extraordinary off-screen romance. plus spike lee is mad as hell. >> we had the crystal ball [ muted ]. i wrote that script in 1988.

he was the first one. i can't do that. >> i'll talk to rosie perez and her amazing story. we begin with our big story. compelling, inspirational, powerful and intense. all those words apply to the new feature film "son of god." here's a moment from the film. >> my son. >> don't be afraid. everything is possible with god. >> "son of god" from the people who brought you last year's huge success, of course, "the bieb," a tthe

miniseries has the largest audience of any on cable and top selling miniseries on dvd. producers are five-time emmy winner mark burnett and his wife roma downey who stars in the movie as mary. welcome to both of you. what an amazing story this is. i went to see the movie the other day. i'd only seen about half the miniseries on a small laptop. and to see the sort of majestic scale of what you did and then to think to myself, it's probably my entire lifetime since "the greatest story ever told" aired as a movie. and no one's really tried to do it since. who came up with this original idea? >> well -- >> my wife. >> we were in morocco filming the bible series. and we would gather the cast and the crew on a weekly basis to look at dailies on the big screen. and as the jesus narrative started to unfold, it was so spectacular. i said to mark, i wish we'd been making a film. so we decided there and then

that we would shoot additional footage. and "son of god" was born. >> how much of the movie has already been seen in some form in the tv series? >> it starts completely different. we start with john on revelation, go through to the whole roman occupation of judea, setting up how intense it was. even the scenes that have been in the series have been re-edited with new shots. we have mountains of stuff there. and as you say, it's a big cinema surround sound experience. >> you must laugh because i know that you pitched the tv series to many people, right? and nobody thought it would work. and they talk about he who laughs last laughs longest. when they were rejecting you, mark, what were you feeling? did you think they were plain wrong or did you start to doubt even your amazing self-confidence? >> piers, you know me pretty well. and when i'm fixated on something i'm sure about, i don't even hear the rejection.

i'm hearing the word "no" as next opportunity to me. i believed so much as did roma in this. and the sort of comments we got were, come on, mark. you might have a lot of hit shows but no one's going to watch "the bible" on primetime tv. they'll get that in church. i said i think you're wrong. i think you're wrong. and of course, 100 million people later. and, by the way, that's in america. in canada "the bible" beat hockey. >> that is amazing. roma, you've been a catholic all your life and you're from ireland. you come to the extraordinary back story between you both because it's very unlikely to put it mildly. almost insurmountable many would say. you should never have been able to get married and fall in love in the way that you have but you did and it's a great story. in terms of this it must have been a very personal thing. you appear as jesus christ's mother mary in the movie. and i can see from the performance what it must have meant to you as a catholic to do this. >> yeah. it's been an extraordinary honor

to step into the role and to be able to bring the great love story to the screen. i have loved jesus and his mother my whole life, piers. i've never really fully considered what his mother must have been feeling. we know she was the mother of the son of god, but she was also a mom. and to stand there at the foot of the cross or the scene that is playing, to see how she felt, i brought a mother's heart to it. i'm a mom myself. we wanted to bring the humanity into the story so that you would feel like you were walking in the footsteps with these characters. >> you also -- and i was aware of this when i watched those scenes, and they're heart-rending scenes. but i knew that both your parents died when you were pretty young. your mom when you were about 10, your father when you were 20. that again must have played into all this. you've been through a lot of suffering when you were young. >> well, i think that if you can take what you've been given, and

i'm sure that in many ways it has made me more empathetic or have deeper compassion to be able to translate that. for many years i got to play an angel on television on "touched by an angel." it's not often, i think, that you get what you love to do and to be able to combine it with what you believe. and to be able to do it with the person you love. it really has been extraordinary. >> mark, you've been responsible for some of the biggest hits on television. "the voice" is yours. i remember seeing you just before that launched and all the critics saying it's not going to work. i saw you at a press day in pasadena. i was doing "america's got talent," and i had a chat with you. you said it's going to be a massive hit. they're all wrong. i remember thinking this guy's got this extraordinary unshakable confidence. you had no scintilla of doubt whatsoever. and it became a monster hit. same with "the apprentice". i did "the apprentice" first season.

the same with "survivor," one of the biggest hits of all time on american television. for you, you're just a brit guy like me from london. only child. you came over here on a bit of a whim, washed up in malibu, baby-sitting for people. you flogged a few t-shirts on venice beach, and now you are i would say arguably the most successful television producer in the history of american television. how? >> i don't know. i just do things i like to do. and i have a feeling that i'm committed to. i mean "survivor" i love. my days in the parachute regiment in the army, i love being in jungles and those kind of environments. that's why i made "survivor." "apprentice," i love the idea of american business. so i've got a lot of things i like to do. in the case of "the bible" and "son of god" it's our faith, something really serious to us. but, you know, i think

the best i can say to viewers watching this right now, anybody tells you they've got it all figured out are out of their minds or lying. you can only have a little bit figured out and go forward anyway and believe and have faith it will work out. the people who need to be 100% sure don't do anything, piers. you know that. >> the people who rejected "the bible" miniseries, you must have bumped into some of them later. they must be kicking themselves all over hollywood, aren't they? >> they are, or they've sort of gotten over it now. it was last year. but they were. i'm not going to give any names. we know the same people you know. and we're all collegiate. and, again, you get a pat on the back and they say, i missed that one. i thought you were out of your mind. i can't believe you had that many viewers. but we're all collegiate. now, believe me, when "son of god" comes out twentieth century fox this friday, 3100 screens in english, spanish and in korean in america.

>> it's going to be huge. i've got no doubt about it having seen it. it reminded me of being the kind of christian version, if you like, of "12 years a slave" in terms of impact on me as a viewer. it brought such vivid dramatic presentation to the big screen, something i knew about but didn't really know about until you actually see it re-enacted in such a graphic way. that's what i think the great genius of it is. and i applaud you both for that and all the team involved. >> i think the value is for a whole new generation. you know, we have teenagers at home. and we know that so much of what they learn is through visual means. and when i was a little girl growing up, watching "the ten commandments" or "the greatest story ever told" have left indelible images on my memory. so for a whole new generation, i think that "son of god" will present to them the story of jesus, and unlike "passion" which is already ten years ago, "son of god" tells the story of the savior's life from his birth

right through the death and resurrection. >> and crucially, no sign of satan, because in the tv series this huge faux scandal blew up because the actor you chose to play satan bore a slight resemblance to barack obama. and you felt that was all a bit the dark forces at work, right? >> i absolutely did. but you know what i felt, it created such hatefulness in people, that the drama that ensued was such a distraction. when our story was a story of light and the light of faith and the light of hope. and it was just such a distraction. i said, that's it. get you behind me. >> you single-handedly air brushed satan from "the son of god" story. >> we cut him out. he's on the cutting room floor. he is. and it gave me a lot of pleasure to do it, i can tell you. >> let's take a break. let's come back. i want to talk about you two as a couple, as a married couple. because you were a british paratrooper and you came from the box side of derry in

northern ireland. and the twain would normally never meet in civilized circumstances. i want to find out how this happened and what the message is from the way it ended. (vo) you are a business pro.

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>> the moment "son of god" the feeding of the 5,000. back with executive producers mark burnett and roma downy. all those miracle scenes are great. it's like watching frank sinatra in vegas. you know all the hits. until you actually hear them live or see them brought to reality, you don't quite feel it in the same way. and i've sat there in this big screening room with only a few of us. it was like one after another here come these amazing, famous moments you know about. and there it is as it happened in this dramatic way. and it felt very modern, you know, really powerful. i could go on about the movie for a long time. i'm sure you'd like me to but i'm not going to. let's talk about you two because you shouldn't really be married. and i'll explain to viewers why. i'm actually irish. i'm from southern ireland originally. and i know from my background and my brother's in the british army, british army colonel now, that you as a british

paratrooper should never really have fallen in love or been allowed to fall in love with a woman from derry, from the bog side because politically that is about as sensitive as it could possibly get. for you, roma, you grew up i guess in an area where the british army were the enemy. this was a reality of your life. >> you know, i grew up in derry, which was a city divided. we had a river down the middle of it. and all through my childhood catholics lived on one side and protestants on the other. and never the twain did meet. and it probably wasn't an ordinary childhood because of the turmoil that was there, yet there was great humor and warmth in our community. >> a lot of violence. >> a lot of violence. >> illustrated by u2's famous song "bloody sunday" became a very iconic and very powerful moment in history. >> yeah. >> you're right in the middle of it. >> yeah, it did. although, when david cameron

first took power, one of the things that he announced was the apology from the british government to the people of northern ireland and to the people of derry for bloody sunday. and i think that has gone a long way to generate the healing and the coming together in our community. that city that was once divided, piers, now has a bridge that's aptly called the peace bridge. >> i was there a couple of years ago. it feels prosperous, it feels safe again. the undercurrent of violence is not there anymore. >> i didn't really even know. roma explained to me their situation. i had no clue. and it's much more sensitive for roma. i just knew this was monica from "touched by an angel," one of the most beautiful women i've ever met in my life. i couldn't believe she even gave me the time of day, piers. but for roma certainly it was sensitive. and i think what it does show, though, is just like that peace bridge, we are a good bridge. i think we've done that with

"son of god." i think we've managed to bridge of course the catholic community. cardinal wuerl, archbishop gomez helped us as has rick warren, good friend of yours, bishop jakes. everyone's worked together on "son of god." it's been a good bridge. >> very few hold hand during an interview and i really like it on this show. what's the secret of your marriage because i saw it firsthand how strong it is. but you're in a business littered with the wreckage of marriage over the decades. why are you able to be so obviously happy with each other? >> we are best friends. that's one thing. we're really best friends. roma's taught me something fantastic, which is roma says between stimulus and response there is a space. and take that space. and i've learned a lot from her. >> space for grace i always say.

>> not only did people tell us the bible series won't work, they also said you're completely crazy, because now you're doing "the bible" and "son of god" as a married couple. you guys won't survive this. our friendship and marriage has become so much stronger working together, our faith has deepened. it's been all good. it's been great. >> i like the fact you said -- you're a very nice person, roma. you said there was a moment you were pitching this when you needed the tough british person. >> listen, we started our company like workers media because we were tired of cursing the darkness and we wanted to be able to provide content that shone a light. and in this partnership, we bring very different gifts and talents and strengths. my husband is definitely the hammer, and i bring a lot of the heart.

and it's a marriage and a partnership that works very well. >> i remember, mark, when we did "the apprentice," and i -- my chosen charge was intrepid foreign heroes fund, which looks after the very seriously wounded american troops and indeed a few british troops over the years. and i played you a tape. and i'd been down to the intrepid center in san antonio of these incredible young soldiers. and they've lost arms and legs and eyes and everything. showed this incredible spirit. it was just she and you in your office. you welled up and started shedding tears. and you showed me underneath all this tough exterior, you're very emotional, sensitive guy. does that help you with all this stuff you do? particularly "son of god" and particularly "the bible" series, to bring that real emotion to -- maybe i should ask you, roma. do you think that side to him is not seen very often but is a powerful cog in his wheel? >> oh, absolutely. he's a sensitive man. and he has an enormous capacity for loving.

but we knew when we were making this film and the series that it had to be about the emotional connections. >> is he an old softy? >> he's a big old softy. why do you think i fell in love with him? >> you know, you probably imagine mark burnett, tough guy, hollywood producer, kick ass, but i bet there's another side to him. >> we're all things, aren't we? that's what makes us -- we're all multidimensional. and it's all those parts of us that are -- he is. you wanted like a big revelation. he is. but i think he'll admit it. >> piers knows me. piers knows me. there are certain things that really set me off, both emotionally and -- >> and you're very kind. he's a very kind man, my husband. >> the thing that links you you've both been shot at. you were shot at in the war. you were shot at when you were visiting your mother's grave as a young 11-year-old girl. >> extraordinary.

i was up in the cemetery and i was in derry city, and i had a red cape on with a sort of a faux fur hood as a little girl and a gun battle broke out between the i.r.a. and the british army. and i got caught in the crossfire and could smell the singing of fur. when i got home, a bullet had ripped through the hood of this coat. but it would not have been unusual for us going home from school and duck down behind cars and stuff. >> you worked in a shoe shop that got bombed. >> and the shoe shop got bombed. yes. it was raining shoes that day. but can i tell you that -- >> you can't say that without explaining what happened. >> i was working. it was my very first job as a young teenager. i was 16 years of age. i got six pounds for a saturday. i was in the shoe shop when they came in with ski masks and said it's a bomb and you have five minutes to get out. i remember we grabbed our coats

because it was so cold and wet. we were standing in the car park in the rain. and the shop blew up and shoes came down all around us. but here's the thing. the encouraging thing in this story, it was an awful way. there were so many people died. there was so much hurt and anger and injustice. but the good news is that i was home just this past summer. derry, my hometown, was the city of culture for all of europe. it's a brilliant, vibrant, alive society of people living in harmony. and if you had asked any of us back then if there was the possibility of peace there, i'm sure everybody would have said, no, it's not possible. but when you're open, i think, to sitting down and talking and being willing to listen, that extraordinary things can happen. mark and i set out with that intention on this film. how could we listen to all the different denominations? how could we make sure that

instead of it being about something that divides us, it could be about something that connects us and brings us together. >> quite rightly. take another break. let's come back and talk about the pope, pope francis. i love this guy. >> me, too. >> he's like a breath of fresh air, isn't he? >> yeah. i think he's the pope of hope. >> the pope of hope after the break with roma downey and mark burnett. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today.

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for the kingdom was vast, and monsters lurked in the deep, and the good queen showed the boy it could all be real. avo: all of great britain, all in one place. book on expedia before march 16th and save up to thirty percent. i never questioned my faith in god.

i questioned god's plan. there's a big difference. i know god is a good god. nothing can shake that from my life. i know god is a loving god. the question is, it's like my children. my children have never doubted that i love them. but they sometimes doubt my wisdom. and they don't think i've made the right decision. >> this interview with rick warren back in september. it was a heartbreaking interview. i know you're very good friends. i texted you, mark, at the time about it nbecause it resonated very strongly with me as a father. they lost this troubled son who took his own life with a gun. and they were so honest in that interview. and it was so heartbreaking. but i had to ask him, as a man of great faith, had it made him question his faith? i thought his answer was really fascinated. you're both committed christians, you're catholic and you're a christian, not a catholic. but have you had times in your life when you've questioned your faith? >> first of all, i've got to say

how much we appreciate how you took care of the warrens. what a terrible thing -- they're our closest friends. it was terrible. >> we love them both dearly. >> it's the worst imaginable thing, isn't it? >> yes. and they've handled it with such grace. they're such good and dear people. we really genuinely love them. you did -- you were so beautiful in how you dealt with them, too. >> in the end you just try to not make it worse. and just let them tell the story. but on that issue of faith, a lot of people will watch "the son of god" and they'll ask themselves about things that happened in their lives. great tragedies, things that happen, whatever it may be. and they'll question their faith. have you had moments like that? >> well, i think that the way my father raised me really reminded me that he always used to say, roma, either there's no god or there's only god. and in the acceptance that there was only god, there were times i haven't understood why things

were happening. but i've always had a belief system and a faith that has gotten me through. and i've been very grateful for that. i also believe in the power of prayer and in the moments where it isn't as clear to me, that's taking that space for grace. >> mark, what about you? >> i would say really with me, i thought i grew up being educated in england that the bible was like a rule book and threatening at times. and like if i stepped out of line, a lightning bolt may come and actually hit me. and i think that what's been the change of me with "the bible" and "son of god" is realizing what a love story is. and thinking as a father in god the father to actually sacrifice

your son for other people is a really, really deep love story. and i feel it really strongly, piers. i really feel the holy spirit. that's been my big shift. from a rule book to a love story is how i feel now. that's my big shift. >> i've interviewed rick warren numerous times and joel osteen. huge respect for them. one of the things we always get into, not the same debate with you guys because it's a different thing. they're pastors and they have a duty to respond to it, i think. but you've seen what's happening in arizona this week and in uganda. a huge ongoing clash between religion and tolerance in my view, which is playing itself out good and bad in places. great in many ways. you're seeing a lot of gay rights being encouraged around america, for example, but in arizona a big backwards step in terms of the thinking of some people there. what's the way around this in terms of -- i have great respect

for people who are very religious and interpret the bible in a certain way and it makes them have views about things like homosexuality or whatever it may be. i just don't like it when people who don't agree with something use bigoted rhetoric. i think that's a step too far. but there's a wider issue here of tolerance. and you guys are great examples of very intolerant, implacable divides coming together. what do you think, roma? how's the best way to handle it? >> well, you know, i think that perhaps as christian people we become known as people who speak out against things instead of being people who speak out for. and instead of what we oppose it's what we propose. and i think we propose love. i mean, we come together in our love of jesus. and his message was inclusive. his message was invitational. he reached out into the fringes

of society. and he came for all of us. >> pope francis has been doing this. and i've been struck as a catholic myself how he's begun to change the rhetoric almost single-handedly saying, look, we've got to be inclusive and we've got to be tolerant and get rid of the hateful talk. >> absolutely. i think he's just been an amazing leader and reminding us of the very essence of our christian faith and of what jesus came to do. and we see him reaching out to everyone. i find his message encouraging and very healing. i think it's been very healing for the catholic faith, as well. he's made it very cool to be catholic, i think. >> he's the pope of hope like you said. >> he is. >> i love the humility that comes with him because a pope should be a man who's got humility. >> absolutely. and he's reaching out to the poor.

you know, i mean, he's really showing mercy. he's showing that you can't just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. and what it really is to be christian, to be christ-like, to be loving. >> mark, of all the things that you achieved in television, and now obviously movies as well, is "son of god" in a way the one you're proudest of because of all the barriers, because of the huge risk you took in doing something that someone had not tried in my lifetime to replicate, which is that immortal film? >> well, i tell you what we are is very grateful to end intolerance across what was a divide, protestant/catholic, people worked together on "son of god," so i think that's one thing i'm really really -- i don't know if the word proud is right but the fact we went for

it despite everyone telling us not to. and how people stepped up and helped us without looking for nuances that might be wrong. just worked together. but certainly just as a human, being told by everyone something will not work and no one's going to watch it and then it's the number one thing of last year and then "son of god" in 3100 theaters friday certainly feels good. >> i have this lovely idea of you two down at your catholic church in malibu. you attend it too, mark. just saying a few prayers as all those rejections came in saying a few prayers, come on. come on. somebody take this. and then it happening and you feeling completely vindicated. yes. the power of prayer. >> listen, yeah. did we pray that this would happen? yes. did we think that this has the potential for good, to shine a light in the world? absolutely. it's encouraging that jesus is going to be back on the big screen, that this great love story is going to be seen and felt by millions of people, not

just in this country but around the world. i think it will add value to the world and add value to the planet. >> i've seen three or probably four great movies this year. "gravity," which is great i saw the wolf of wall street" which is a monument to excess and terrible behavior. and i've seen "12 years a slave" and "son of god," and the last two i recommend to people they go and see because they tell a real story and tell it with such powerful imagery that it really gets to you. you feel it. and i think that's an amazing achievement. i'm so glad you did it. if you hadn't done it we would have been waiting another 50 years. and, who knows, maybe nobody would have taken that jump. so congratulations. "son of god" opens in theaters this friday. coming up, spike lee's rant. he says his beloved brooklyn has changed since the days of "do the right things." when we come back, i'm talking

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wait a minute. first of all, it is too hot. all right, and if you think i'm going to let you get some, put your clothes on and leave here and i'll see your black ass another week. >> i'll see you tomorrow. >> yeah, right. my name is boo-boo the fool. >> so no nasty, huh? >> no. >> let's do something else. >> what? >> trust me. >> trust you?

the last time i trusted you, we ended up with a son. >> spike lee's "do the right thing," a movie as relevant today as when it came out 25 years ago. rosie perez got her big break in that film. her new book, author rosie perez, joins us and is in the chair. welcome to you. >> thank you for having me. >> it's an incredibly powerful book. and it's dwrraining it reading . never mind what it must be like for you to live this life in your early years. are you sort of surprised in a way you even survived all the endless forms of abuse that you went through? >> you know, i was surprised after i finished writing the book. i had always thought it wasn't a big deal, and that i had survived it and moved on. and as i got older, it started to dawn on me, oh, my goodness, i went through an extraordinary experience.

how did i do it? and in writing the book, it helped me really revisit that whole experience and see, i was really a strong kid. >> amazing. your mother was a schizophrenic. very beautiful woman. >> yeah. >> and could be capable of great love and then just turn like on a switch. you were raised by your aunt who you thought was your mother. then your mother came back into your life and sent you to a catholic convent kind of school where you are -- you're beaten and i guess abused in various ways by this woman, sister renatta. yet at the same time, you you had not an entirely bad time with her. you quite liked a lot of the aspects of that education. >> i was privy to top-notch education at the home. that's what we called it. the nuns were very, very strict. but they also pressed upon us to make it, to get out. so all the time we were like, what is your career choice going to be? what college are you going to go

to? you better do well in school. let me see your report card. we had two-hour study homework every single day. and so -- >> it was tough love. >> it was tough love. and that part of it was wonderful. and the other part that was wonderful, the nuns were the first to say that i should be on the stage. so every time they put on a show, i got to be part of it. and did i ever think it would be a career? absolutely not. but they did see something in me. and i really did appreciate that. but the beatings i really could have done without. >> right. in terms of what impacted you as a person and your religion, being around all this quite severe religion i guess in many way, i've just interviewed roma downey and mark burnett about "the son of god" movie, "the

bible, series, reinvigorating, if you like, religion into american life again. what did it do to you this experience? did it give you a renewed and stronger faith or did it damage your faith? >> oh, that is so interesting. no one's put a question like that. first of all, i would say that i'm a recovering catholic. and that's no disrespect to the catholic church. >> i get it. anybody who reads the book will understand what you mean. >> deep recovery. and i think it's the biggest thing that i got from it is guilt. the guilt is ridiculous. i feel bad about everything. and that's reflected in the book as well. but also just damnation and fire and the devil and hell. that was horrible to deal with as a child. it was just so over the top. and i still can walk into a church and recite the whole mass. and it's really scary how ingrained. >> do you pray regularly? >> i do pray. isn't that crazy? i do still pray. >> it's not crazy, actually.

i can understand it because if you read the book, it's so -- in a way it's incredibly inspiring. i mean, the fact you came through all this and became this hugely successful star and actress and kept it together is miraculous. let's come back and talk about spike lee because his movies made you hugely famous. but he's come out today with a great long spike lee rant about the gentrification of brooklyn. you're a brooklyn girl. i want to know is he right. >> i think he is. >> don't answer yet. hold your thought until after this break. >> okay. so it's good to know that mazola corn oil has 4 times more cholesterol blocking plant sterols than olive oil. and a recent study found that it can help lower cholesterol 2 times more.

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what is going on there. this is what he had to say. >> the people of the low east side, they can't afford [ bleep ]. williamsburg -- they can't even afford [ bleep ]. williamsburg -- wh >> i love spike lee. i see him at the new york knicks sometimes. he's a big arsenal fan like me. his heart is on his sleeve. get it out there. was he right? you've been to brooklyn. you're there now. this gentrification allegation that brooklyn has become too expensive for the people who really have been through the tough times in brooklyn. >> yes, i do believe he's right. and what's unfortunate is that i think a lot of people are not taking what he has to say

seriously, because he articulated it in such visceral rants, so it's easy to just dismiss it as spike lee just being crazy. but he does have a definite point, and i think it's right. you know, i'll say this much, danny hawk, he's a great new york performer and he had a play, a one-man show at the public theater. one of the skits was, he played this dominican guy and he discovers that he's been going there all his life and they have soy milk. he goes up to the owner and says, do you have soy milk? my sister needed soy milk since she was born. she's 12. now you have soy milk? now you have soy milk! you know, and that's the sentiment. like we weren't good enough. you couldn't help develop the neighborhood and make it safer and better then? why now? so i understand people's resentment. in the same breath, it is what it is. we're here, we're now. we got to figure out some common ground to come together because

there is a lot of tension. and i just think that, you know, it's sad. people always say, new york always changes. that's true for the city. it is not true for the borrows boroughs. you go to queens, it still looks like the opening credits of "all in the family," pure archie bunker land. that's what brooklyn was. and we take great pride in that. then when they put up these ugly high-rises, it hurts. when a hipster is walking down the street and ignores you, that hurts. as a matter of fact, you know, the polar vortex that just went on, right? i come home, i was in l.a. working and it was kind of snowing and i was like, oh, no, no one shoveled my sidewalk. it's the law, you have to shovel the sidewalk if you're a private home owner. so i'm in the garage, yes, i have a garage in brooklyn. that's what's so fabulous and so so we go in, and i'm about to shovel the snow, and this hipster is on the phone with 311 reporting me.

and i said, i'm so sorry, can i shake your hand? are you my neighbor? he says, i live down the block. i said, i'm sorry, we were away. well, you should have had someone taking care of that. and i go, i understand that, i'm apologizing, can you just shake my hand? hello this, is blah, blah, blah, 311 and he just continued. that's not the brooklyn way, man. when he was walking away, i was like, that's cowardly of you. i'm going to see you again. >> good for you. >> that's part of it. it's a big, big part of it. >> let's talk quickly here. you've been brilliant, funny. it's a cult classic, isn't it. how much fun was this to make? >> that was the most fun i ever had on the set. woody and wesley were ridiculous. they were insane, and i loved every minute of it. the synergy between us was undeniable and we clicked. there were many times when ron shelton, the director, would

scold us, you know, focus! focus! this is not a game, this is a movie. it was just so much fun. >> i want to correct -- not correct, i want to get you on the record here of allegations swirling in the tabloids. you and jennifer lopez hate each other. there's a massive feud. >> i don't hate jennifer lopez. i have great respect for her. when i first saw her, i knew she was going to be a star. yes, we had a tiff, but it was 20 years ago. and i write it in my book. it's unfortunate that the tabloids try to portray it as something that is current and it's not. i've moved on and i'm sure she has also. we're grown women, and it's really disgusting to me that the media try to pit two latinas against each other. you know, it's just so difficult and so hard to make it in this industry, especially if you're a person of color. and for them to do that was really shameful. and it was unfortunate that there were a few people that believed it and bought into it. that said, i don't only talk about her.

i talk about how i was rude to jamie foxx. how i was rude to spike lee. how i was rude to don cornelius. i hit the poor man in the head with a chicken wing. you know, and it was all because i didn't know how to articulate my anger. the weapons that served me well against sister renatta and the home, i didn't need them anymore, but i didn't realize that. i didn't realize that war was over and i had to move on. one of the counselors in the group home, the group home did serve me well, i did like the group home, but i just didn't want to be there. i wanted to be home. this wonderful man, and i'm going to say his real name, his name is nigel johnson. one day he told me when i was leaving the group home, he said life dealt you a [ bleep ] hand. i went, gee, thanks for the encouragement. you know. and good life to you, too. and he says, but you can always ask for new cards. and i said, how?

and he said, you're going to figure it out when you get tired of holding that hand. and that's what i did, and that's really the point of the book. >> the handbook for an unpredictable life, how to survive cyst renatts and great hair. by the way, on that cover page, that's great hair. rosie perez, pleasure to meet you. >> a pleasure, as well. thank you so much. >> we'll be right back. marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable

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tomorrow night, cnn films brings you "and the oscar goes to." the ultimate backstage look at hollywood's biggest night. that's tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. eastern. that's all for us. anderson cooper starts right now. good evening, everyone. we're on the breaking news, arizona governor jan brewer just moments ago bowing to enormous pressure from federal leaders, big name conservatives, sports, you name it, vetoing a bill that supporters say protects religious freedom and critics call license to discriminate. also tonight we'll take you into the cold, cold heart of america's ice age. rivers of it on the move leaving entire communities on the rocks. later a "360" exclusive, spike lee joins us live. we'll talk about his tirade on gentrification in african-american neighborhoods and why it takes in his words an influx of white people before the garbage is picked up and streets are kept safe. he got a lot of people talking today. tonight he's talking to us.